With the ever changing military and law enforcement conflicts and advanced ballistic technologies, evolving needs for improved armor protection for both personnel and vehicle systems have increased. Military and security personnel demand improved performance and reductions in equipment weight. The armor industry has struggled to develop a system that is reliable and meets these critical, life-saving expectations.
Armor designed to protect against projectile penetration can be made out of a variety of materials. Historically, metal-based armor was used for most armor applications. Current typical ballistic resistant plate technology can incorporate a ceramic based plate adhered to a substrate. The plates, known as SAPI (small arms protective inserts) or ESAPI (enhanced small arms protective insert) can be placed within a fabric carrier vest system for personal protection at the front, back and sides of a wearer's torso. (See generally, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small_Arms_Protective_Insert) For example, the United States Army has issued requests and solicitations for improved ballistic plate technology to be known as XSAPI which will provide greater coverage and reduced weight. Accordingly, there is a desire and need in the art to address these requests and solicitations in the next generation of SAPI protection.